When The Angels Left the Old Country

When The Angels Left the Old Country, a debut novel written by Sacha Lamb.

If you like Jewish fiction and mystical fantasy you will love this book.  At the beginning I kept wondering how this book ended up in my town's public library.  I live in a small NH town and though we are more diverse than we were 30 years ago, this book seems to fit a very small genre and area of interest for readers.  It is also targeted for aa Young Adult audience, but I think it will appeal to adult audiences

If you know the story of the two angels that sit on your shoulders, each of them trying to influence you. They represent the eternal struggle of the "Yetzer ha-tov" and the "Yetzer ha-ra"--the good and evil urges that compete within each of us.  I can image them  like a little angel and an imp who hover over each  shoulder, arguing over my head...

This is the story of an evil demon, Little Ash, the youngest son of Ashmedai, the demon king.  He is known as ‘Little Ash’ to distinguish himself from his homonymous father and all his brothers who are named after the king perhaps in an effort to stymie the Angel of Death or perhaps because he cannot think of any other names.  His companion is an Angel, who takes on a name according to the activity it is involved in at the time.   They sit everyday in the back corner of the synagogue in the Polish village called Shtetl.  It is so small and out of the way it has no other name. They have been there for two hundred years studying Talmud. 

But the world is getting darker and Little Ash and the Angel overhear that a young girl left the village to travel to America and now her father has not had a letter in weeks and is worried something happened to her.  Little Ash sees the changing times and knows America is the place he wants to go, so convinces the Angel who he names, Uriel to do the mitzvah of finding, Essie, the missing daughter.

On the ship to America they meet Rose who is also a young girl traveling alone and they become companions.  They all have secrets they are carrying, some they know and some they do not fully understand.  Little Ash and the Angel can take on human characteristics, and in  addition Little Ash can see and hear the demons and spirits of the dead.

When they reach America there are obstacles they need to overcome, getting through Ellis Island and the medical tests and challenging the corrupt officials.  To achieve their goal of finding Essie and helping the Jewish immigrants they will fight crime bosses and sweatshop owners.  

Using a mix of real and mythical characters, Lamb examines the nature of human and gender identity. It quietly presents topics of  coming of age, self discovery, friendship and how love can change and endure.

The subjects of anti-semitism, the pogroms and mistreatment of Jews in Eastern Europe along with the immigrant experience and labour issues as the Jews arrived in New York are also detailed.